Want to impress your pals with an elegant yet simple hors d’oeuvre? Look no further than these spicy salmon cucumber bites! If you’ve already got some cooked salmon and mayo in your fridge, you can whip these omega-3-fatty-acid-packed appetizers in a jiffy.
Time to make Spicy Salmon Cucumber Bites!
Makes 16
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup Paleo mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Tabasco
- ½ pound cooked salmon
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1 English cucumber, peeled and cut crosswise into ¾-inch thick slices
- 4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 bunch chive sprigs (optional garnish)
Method:
Combine the mayo, smoked paprika, and Tabasco in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.
Taste for seasoning and add more Tabasco if you like things spicy.
(Want a different way to spice up your mayonnaise? Stir 1½ tablespoons of Paleo Sriracha into your mayo instead of the paprika and Tabasco.)
You already cooked your salmon, right? (Not sure how to do it? Try Steamy Kitchen’s terrific method for slow cooking your fish, or check out America’s Test Kitchen’s simple oven-roasted salmon recipe.)
Grab the salmon and flake it into large bite-sized pieces. Place the salmon, diced shallots, chives, salt, and pepper in a bowl…
…and gently mix in the spicy mayonnaise.
Again, taste and adjust the seasoning as you go.
Grab the cucumber slices…
…and use a melon baller or teaspoon to scoop out the center of each cucumber slice. Don’t dig too deeply or your cups will become open-ended tubes and the salmon filling will fall right through when your guests try to pick ‘em up. Total party foul.
Divide the salmon mixture into each cup…
…and top each one with a cherry tomato slice and a couple of chive tops.
Bon appetit!
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Spicy Salmon Cucumber Bites

Ingredients
- ¼ cup Paleo mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- ½ pound cooked salmon
- 1 tablespoon shallots minced
- 1 tablespoon chives chopped
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 English cucumber peeled and cut crosswise into ¾-inch thick slices
- 4 cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 bunch chive sprigs optional garnish
Instructions
- Combine the mayo, smoked paprika, and Tabasco in a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add more Tabasco if you like things spicy.
- Grab the cooked salmon and flake it into large bite-sized pieces.
- Place the salmon, diced shallots, chives, salt, and pepper in a bowl and gently mix in the spicy mayonnaise.
- Grab the cucumber slices and use a melon baller or teaspoon to scoop out the center of each cucumber slice. Don’t dig too deeply or your cups will become open-ended tubes and the salmon filling will fall right through.
- Divide the salmon mixture into each cup and top each one with a cherry tomato slice and a couple of chive tops.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sounds really yummy!! Could I use canned salmon instead of leftover?
I think canned salmon tends to have a drier texture, but it’ll work!
Made my lazy version of this tonight, and it was delicious!
Lazy version has two 5oz. envelopes of salmon, 2tbs. of chives (store was out of shallots), only 1tbs of Sriracha (my husband doesn’t like spicy so this was our compromise but I added some on mine as a garnish), and mayo as listed. Instead of disks, I cut the cucumber horizontally and then in halves so it was 8 planks and spread the spicy salmon on those. So good and EASY! Definitely will make it again!